The lush plane trees had begun to shed their leaves, yet outside the hotel window, something strange was happening: overnight, new buds had turned green again, drawing crowds to stop and stare.
Through the window, an arm hung over the edge of the bed, with a slender vine wrapped around its wrist.
Pamela yawned and looked up, only to find that it was already 9:00. She sat up from the bed in the bedroom, closed her eyes for a while longer, then reached up to smooth her tousled hair before putting her feet on the floor and stretching.
Another slender hand emerged from beneath the covers, a small chip missing from its black nail polish. Talia's head poked out from under the blanket. She rolled onto her side and sharply sucked in a breath.
She abruptly sat up and felt her back. Once the sharp pain registered, she hurled a pillow at Pamela with all her strength and roared, "You lunatic! I haven't been hurt this badly in ten years!"
"Don't talk nonsense." Pamela yawned and said coldly, "I told you I was rough. You said it was fine."
Talia fell back onto the bed, yawned softly, and said, "I'm curious how your former bed partners survived. You tried to strangle me five times last night, at minimum."
"Does that surprise you?" Pamela said, picking up the pillow from the floor. "You invited me. So who's the little girl now?"
"You're insane!" Talia muttered. "I'm a female Assassin. Do you know what an Assassin is? Someone who does jobs for money. I usually work for my father. Clear objective, swift execution."
"Driven by profit?"
"You could put it that way."
The female Assassin took a deep breath.
"But you're a fucking pervert!" she shouted. "You damned sadist!"
"I told you,